These days, there are many types of input devices such as a key pad including multiple buttons or keys, a mouse, a track ball, a touch pad, a joystick, a touch screen, or the like in order to manipulate a computer system. Such input devices are used to input data such as a letter, a symbol, a picture, or the like desired by users to a computer system and input a signal for requesting a specific command from the computer system.
Among the various input devices, recently, a touch input means such as a touch screen that can minimize and simplify a user device by implementing an input means and an output function together is generally used.
A touch input means may sense contact with a touch region by a contact means such as a user's body part or touch pen and may be classified into a resistive type, a capacitive type, an optical type, and an ultrasonic type. The resistive-type touch input means senses a touch by recognizing a pressure applied to a contact point by the touch, the capacitive-type touch input means senses a touch through a change in an electric charge on a contact point caused by the contact of a human body part of a user, and the optical-type touch input means detects a touch position using an infrared light camera and an infrared light lamp.
An initial method for providing a user interface using this touch input means displays a manipulation means such as multiple buttons on a screen and performs a corresponding function based on a position where contact is sensed. Recently, in order to enhance a user's convenience and operability, a method of combining a variety of information such as a contact start position, a contact start time, a contact end position, and a contract end time, recognizing a touch gesture such as tapping, dragging, sliding, and pinching, and executing various user commands according to the touch gesture has also been used. In addition, a method of recognizing multiple touch points in a touch region and executing a user command according to the number of, positions of, combinations of, and distance changes between the touch points has been used.
However, a conventional user interface method using a touch has difficulties in that a user has to be aware of complex patterns or gestures and perform a pattern or gesture corresponding to a command because the user should perform a complex touch gesture or touches several points to draw a complex pattern.
In addition, the conventional user interface method has limitations in providing an instant response because it takes a certain time to perform and then recognize a touch gesture or touch pattern.